A leading member of the opposition NPP, Paul Collins Appiah-Ofori has kicked against a suggestion by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that cannabis should be legalized.

Mr. Appiah-Ofori maintained that – “Ghana is not ready” to legalize hard drugs – according to him, that will be a catastrophe.

The Nobel prize award winner was noted to have said – “Drugs are dangerous, but current narcotics policies are an even bigger threat because punishment is given a greater priority than health and human rights.

It’s time for regulations that put lives and safety first.”

According to the Der Spiegel International which first published the article – Kofi Annan opined that - “Take the case of the medical use of cannabis. By looking carefully at the evidence from the United States, we now know that legalising the use of cannabis for medical purposes has not, as opponents argued, led to an increase in its use by teenagers.

“By contrast, there has been a near tripling of American deaths from heroin overdoses between 2010 and 2013, even though the law and its severe punishments remain unchanged.”

But in an interview with NEAT FM’s ‘Ghana Montie’ programme, the former Member of Parliament Mr Appiah-Ofori said legalizing cannabis will “put the youth at risk. They will abuse it.”

“I don’t support the idea, not in Ghana,” – he told host Kwesi Aboagye.